stale check

I am engaged in a small wholesale and retail trade. last feb 2010 i sold goods in exchange for a 30 days post dated check. there is no invoice issued on the sale. Before the due date of the check the customer asked me to hold the check first because of some reason with a promise to pay cash in exchange of the check. in good faith i agreed... but instead of paying the whole amount he paid in installment and up to now he has not settled the whole amount yet. 50% of the amount is not yet settled and its been a while when he last paid. he kept on promising that he will give some cash to lessen his debt but he was not able to fulfill his promises so i decided to deposit the check that i am holding. the problem is the bank told me that it is already a stale check since the due date is more than six months already. what should i do? how can i be paid? the date of the check was feb 12, 2010 and it is written 2-12-10. I am thinking to alter the date and make 2 to 12 so that it will become 12-12-10. is it ok or advisable to do that?

hope somebody can help and thank you in advance to those who will give advise. GOD BLESS!

you change the date, and you can become liable for falsification of commercial document. i urge you not to do it.

from the info you provided, i cannot see that a crime was committed, because there was an honest intention to pay for the goods. as for the check, any action for bp 22 is not possible because the check is stale.

i recommend you explore a civil claim. if this is less than 100k, you can qualify for a small claims case. rules on sc.judiciary.gov.ph. no lawyer needed

thanks attyLLL for your reply! maybe he has an honest intention to pay, thats what i hoped also. but the problem is the moment the check bacame stale he just kept on promising but no payment is made. the amount of the check is 1.2 million. he kept on telling me to hold the deposit with the promise to pay in cash. every month he was able to give me 100k. i did not ask for interest because i thought he has no bad intentions... now after the 6th month he stoped paying with a balance of 600k. its almost a year now. i think it was his intention to hold the check and as soon it is stale he will stop. thats a clear 600k for him. What do you think attyLLL?

your remedy is to file a regular civil case for collection. indeed, i would have advised you to deposit the check so you would have leverage against him. nevertheless, you are still entitled to collect.